According to reports on Freeskier Magazine's website, professional freeskier and Truckee local C.R. Johnson died today in a skiing accident at Squaw Valley USA.

According to Freeskier's brief report, "he got caught up on rocks going off a cliff at the Light Towers, went over the handlebars and hit his head and neck on rocks on the landing."

We will update this story as more details are forthcoming...

Johnson was well known for his freestyle and freeride skiing. He is credited with being the first skier to land a 1440 (four full rotations), as well as progressing his sport in many other ways.

In 2005, Johnson experienced a setback of epic proportions as Kye Peterson accidentally landed on him while filming, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury which required Johnson to be put into a medically-induced coma for 10 days.

Recovering from this accident took Johnson years, as even basic motor skills had to be relearned before he could even get back on skis. However, a fierce determination propelled Johnson back onto skis and back to the top of the skiing world within a couple of years.